On work this week.

Another week of work come and gone. And what a week it has been…Al and I have silently vowed to never have triplets if we can help it, but should it happen we will be fully equipped. Fully.

This week was a long one and a little hard. We were relatively short staffed, we said goodbye to Jenna and Shireen, our kids were out of control a lot of the time, they actually got sick of watching Ice Age, and four o clock saw two very tired girls every day it felt like.

Flower Song sends anyone off to Nepal in good spirits.

But then we get talking over our customary coffee and cookies at four thirty and all of a sudden things get funny.

Like when Janaka came howling in, dripping wet and furiously pointing in the direction of little Ms. Boomie. First of all Boomie cannot be her real name. As we have not the first clue about what her real name is, Boomie she remains. Second let us clarify that Boomie is a doll. She is a tiny little pixie of three, with an olive complexion and big brown eyes that would get her the entire Hershey’s factory should she take a fancy to it. She is also a pint-sized terror and has boys three times her size running for cover. Poor little Janaka ventured into her clutches and subsequently was held under a faucet until not an inch of him was dry. I had to grope frantically for self control as the strong desire to laugh just about killed me and any sense of justice the situation may have salvaged.

Boomie.

Or like when our older boys, under the instructions of “now boys, we learned all about cars and boats, we’re going to make our own boats!” got really excited and proceeded to create little origami paper boats…colored in flawless yellow, green and red. “Bob Marley” one of them informed us. Naturally.

Prem.

Or when new volunteer Tessa decided that a swing in the baby room would be a good idea. We are in wholehearted agreement with everything but the methods.

Tess: “Now where could we hang it from, I wonder? AH! How about that massive hook in the ceiling? Yes, that one! The one that looks like it could fish a whale out of the Pacific!”

(I am paraphrasing here)

Al: “Perfect.”

Tess: “We better see if it’s strong enough. How about (meaningful scan over Al’s little frame), how about we lift you up and hang you from the hook! I mean, if it’ll hold you, I’m sure it would hold a baby…”

Al: (appreciative laugh at this little joke)

…until she was lifted three seconds later by a clearly not-joking Tessa and found herself dangling from a hook in the ceiling like a piñata. It held.

Chiko.

We’ve also been taking them to the grounds most days which helps burn off ridiculous amounts of energy and makes afternoon sessions a little easier…how is it that kids can store that much energy anyway?

They watch elephants and tractors...

Play the jump-off-the-table-and-spin-around-until-we-make-Steph-fall-over game...

Get silly...

Find cool stuff...

Build holes...

Go sailing...

Sit under the table…or fort…or castle…or cave…or whatever it happens to be that day...

...or just let us schmooze on them.

And we love it.

So much love,

Alisa and Steph

On weekends and playgrounds.

Alisa:

After successfully completing our first week at the center, our weekend was filled with nothing more strenuous than lounging at the pool, watching the big match (I discovered cricket is not my sport—seven hours is much, much too long. The most exciting part of the match was when the guys “found” a little boy, who liked to dance, and turned him into the unofficial mascot), viewing the final game of the World Cup, and spending time with Steph’s friend Shireen.

Steph:

Shezzie is one of my dear dear friends, and has been from way back in the day. It's been a joy to catch up with her, relive favorite memories and put new ones in place. The cricket match was one of them. The big match is played annually between CIS and Gateway (pppssshhhh...) and for the first time in 4 years, our boys took the trophy home. Not only did we get to witness a well batted win, but we got to dance some prime baila, catch up with friends and last but not least, see Prema, school tea-maker, house keeper and custodian. She is one of those wonderful installments that remains at a given establishment for the entirety of eternity and never changes. Speaking of CIS, we visited school this weekend as well...it was a strange feeling walking down those well trodden staircases and well ambled hallways, but wonderful at the same time.

We also had to bid farewell to our beloved friend, travel partner, partaker in getting charged by elephants and owner of the brightest neon shirt in the history of neon shirts...Ms. Christina Peter. Gah. Chrispet, we miss you already.

Alisa:

Work on Monday was so good. Shireen came and feel in love with the babas. Steph and I got our first taste of visiting the grounds. It was quite the adventure shepherding 16 kids though the busy streets of Kandy town. But, fortunately, we were able to keep track of them all thanks to their bright, matching yellow and red shirts embossed with the words, “I am special” on the back—Steph and I got into the spirit too and also wore our very own matching outfits (things like this happen after living together for a year).

Our time at the grounds was spent playing a rousing game of soccer—I don’t know if I’ve been subconsciously picking up tips from all of the World Cup games we watched or if my ability level is similar to that of 5 and 6 year olds, but the game was quite a success.

Back at the center we did fun things like playing with play-doh and watching a documentary of Sri Lankan animals before heading off to teach computer class. The class, which we had been secretly dreading, was so much fun. We had our English class boys who are a hoot and a half. We learnt typing today—and spent about 30 minutes typing, “The red fish ate the blue fish”. And I really mean we spent 30 minutes typing that sentence. But by the end of the session, Sajeewa, learned the proper way to position his hands on the keys and decided to practice typing sentences for the rest of the class instead of playing games. He also got a trishaw for us, and one for a good deal to boot, after the lesson.

All in all a great day and we can’t wait to see them again tomorrow. We’re bringing a boom box to English class tomorrow afternoon; stay tuned to hear how it turns out.

Love,

Alisa and Steph

More on neon but also street kids.

Hi dear folks, so as busy as we’ve been, updating you on all our adventures in the north, up rocks and down under the sea and such, we’ve kind of gotten a little bit behind on the day to day shenanigans.

We started work on Monday. Was that a shock to our system or was that a shock to our system? It was a shock to our system. But more on that after we tell you about the neon party we so diligently shopped for the other day. As you may recall, Al and I turned Kandy town upside down looking for neon attire for the bash our dear friends would be throwing…and what we found made us look like blazing, luminescent orbs. Also Amish. Wonderful pieces really, but somehow not neon club worthy…nothing a pair of scissors and some creativity couldn’t fix, however, and we left to dance the night away looking just like we needed to.

From so...

...To so.

It was indeed a party worth writing home about with a lighting system that rivaled that of the north star, music that put every club on the island to shame (they played every summer hit necessary, Justin Beiber included) and dancing that lasted about 7 hours. No joke.

We had one day to recover and then we were hit with another ball game altogether…against a team of about 35 kids. We were swiftly and efficiently introduced to Child Action Lanka, an organization that is aiming to work with street parents to get their kids, or the next generation, off the streets.

Center 1 (of three)

We have worked four days now, and every day is becoming easier and more enjoyable as we get to know our kids and get more of a feel for what we are needed to do. In the mornings, it’s the “baby cage”. Al and I take care of about 8 to 10 babies…who are all adorable, stubborn and need attention. We’ve been learning about changing diapers faster than you can say “squirm”, about carrying three babies at once, about how to feed, rock, tickle, cajole and about how being thrown up all over is really not the end of the world. Yep, we had a new little boy who cried for roughly 4 hours straight the first day we were there….pausing only to throw up his orange juice all over my shirt. Twice.

(Side note – Al thought this was hilarious, and he is now known as little Pukey)

The second day he decided he liked me and would stop if I held him. This was all right for about the first hour or three, but then I put him down...and got bit. Things are getting better however and he is slowly learning that crying is not going to get him very far – especially seeing as Al put him on the floor and told him, quite plainly, that he would stay there until he stopped whining. He did. Betwixed these adventures, we’re growing very fond of little Pukey. He really is pretty cute. Also there’s something about a little boy who probably doesn’t get a whole lot of cuddle time, putting his head on your shoulder, his thumb in his mouth and falling asleep because he finally trusts that your not going to hit him or leave him alone.

And the same goes for:

Him.

Him.

And all the other hims and hers that cry, laugh, color, sing, scream, eat and sleep here.

Despite the long hours, the frustrations and unexpected curve balls (teach computer lessons and write up the entire organization’s procedures and policies documents? Why the frick not?), we are quickly falling in love with these kids and with what we’re doing. We come home exhausted but with a certain sense of satisfaction in knowing that it’s really worth it, even if it is only a drop in the bucket. That really is something to thank God about!

So much love,

Alisa and Steph